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About this blog: The Raucous Caucus shares the southpaw perspectives of this Boomer on the state of the nation, the world, and, sometimes, other stuff. I enjoy crafting it to keep current, and occasionally to rant on some issue I care about deeply... (More)

About this blog: The Raucous Caucus shares the southpaw perspectives of this Boomer on the state of the nation, the world, and, sometimes, other stuff. I enjoy crafting it to keep current, and occasionally to rant on some issue I care about deeply. My long, strange career trip has included law and management jobs in two Fortune 50 companies, before founding the legal search and staffing firm Cushing Group, Recruiters. I've lectured on negotiation and settlement strategy, and teach graduate courses at Golden Gate University (Adjunct of the Year for a doctoral seminar on business, law and society). Illinois, Texas and California (Inactive) admitted me to law practice; I hold JD and MBA degrees from the University of Illinois, and a BGS from the University of Michigan, with Distinction. There -- Go Blue! Personally, my daughters are a lawyer in NY, and a pre-med student in NM - their lives-and-times often animate these columns. I'm active in animal advocacy matters, having led a citizen team that took Alameda's city animal shelter to a non-profit operation - we saved $600K annually and the lives of some 700 companion animals/year vs. the City's best alternative. I'm delighted with that success. My family has re-homed 144 foster animals over many years; we host four boisterous border collies of our own. Mostly for humane movement efforts, I was nominated for GQ magazine's 2009 Better Men, Better World Award. You may notice that many of my rants relate to critter issues. In addition to the Raucous Caucus blog, I frequently contribute to The BARK magazine, and am a proud Moderator emeritus on the popular news and humor website www.Fark.com. I prefer scotch over imported beer (Hide)

Their Akin-Breakin’ Hurt

Uploaded: Aug 23, 2012

I thought I was taking a late summer hiatus, based on a combination of annual dog days reveries, overseas athletic distractions, and an utterly uninspiring domestic political mudscape. Then Senate candidate Todd Akin weighed-in with a blunder of truly Olympian proportions. If there was a competition for setting the campaign season on its ear, this son of the Show Me State would bring home The Gold.

It began with a softball toss of an interview question about abortion in cases of rape. In a stunning display of misguided concision, candidate Akin minimized the importance of the issue ("extremely rare"); expressed doubt about many (most?) rape charges by suggesting that there's a useful policy distinction between "legitimate" and, other (morning-regrets?) rape claims; and concluded with a statement of his belief that the typical uterus is already pro-choice with respect to spermatic suitors  in Akinland, undesirable swimmers are shown the exit, sans consummation.

That latter claim smacked of the various self-fulfilling "witch tests" of the Salem era  you simply fling The Accused into a convenient body of water  if she floats, she's exonerated; otherwise, well  problem solved! Such a scientific demonstration obviously also placed a premium on body mass index (or knowing where to find the submerged stumps). In the world according to candidate Todd, if a rape "victim" showed up pregnant, the legitimacy of her claim would be cast into serious doubt. The uterus Knows, after all.

I was also reminded of a paternity case I witnessed as a young clerk in the Wilmington, DE, Legal Aid office. The defendant admitted knowing the mother, being involved with her, having sex with her during the relevant time, and the kid even looked like him -- but he steadfastly (and angrily) denied his possible fatherhood. Why? Because, he stated triumphantly, in the course of each intimate interlude, he had an orgasm, but She never did  so it Had to be somebody else. (He lost).

The differences here, of course, are that the Salem era ended before the Republic began, and the Delaware paternity suit rube was not a current member of the House of Representatives Science Committee. That Mr. Akin was chosen by his GOP peers to be entrusted with subjects like Climate Change policy would be comical, if the issues weren't so dire (you guessed it  he's a denier). That's who's minding the store in the House, and seeking election to the United States Senate. But please don't adjust your thermostat  that queasy, cold sweat you may be feeling is "legitimate."

The fallout from the broken Akin interview has also been notable: he felt free to thumb-his-nose at his Party's Presidential candidate who called for him to step aside, the bloom quickly came off the rosy reviews of VP candidate (and former Munster) Paul Ryan, who shares the no-rape-exception abortion position with Mr. Akin, and the GOP campaign (and platform) are being forced to defend social issues when they want to focus their fire on the economy. Not only that, but recent reports suggest that Tropical Storm Isaac may disrupt the GOP convention in Tampa next week.

Tom: Here is the difference between your candidate Obama, and the Republican candidate Romney. When this idiot Todd Akin made this ridiculous statement, Mr.Obama AND Mr.Romney both immediately denounced and attacked this heinous statement.

When VP Joe Biden made his ridiculous statement about Republicans wanting to put "you"(it was a black audience)"back in chains", Mr. Romney immediately denounced and attacked this heinous statement, and President Obama SAID NOTHING. He never condemned or called out his VP candidate for this blatant and hatemongering vile statement.

Mr.Obama's ommision to call out his VP over this comment shows he is more concerned about winning an election, than doing the right thing.

Moreover, this idiot Todd Akin is not the VP and will not take over if something happens to Mr.Romney if he is elected President. However, this idiot Joe Biden, WILL take over if something happens to Mr.Obama. The thought of Joe Biden leading our great nation should be enough to make any independents vote for Mr. Romney.

You also have to wonder if Joe Biden is physically(as well as mentally) capable of serving as President, since he got out of the military service by claiming he had "asthma". I wonder if breathing in all his hot air caused his asthma.

Posted by Tom Cushing,
a resident of Alamo,
on Aug 23, 2012 at 2:03 pm

Hi RJ: your guy IS getting better at it, but I think he lacks instinct for it. I would note two earlier instances, 1 -- when a Romney supporter accused Mr. Obama of treason, and Mitt lacked the wit to respond (as the honorable Mr. McCain did, in 2008)and, 2 -- when Rush Limbaugh defamed Sandra Fluke as a slut, and worse, and all Mr. Romney did was quibble with the "choice of words."

Tom: Rush Limbaugh is an idiot and his calling Sandra Fluke a slut was inappropriate, but once again Rush Limbaugh is not the VP and will not take over if something happens to Mr.Romney. Joe Biden is the VP and will take over for Mr.Rommney, and that is what is so scary. I actually think the thought of Joe Biden being President is so frightful to so many Americans that it will ultimately lead to a Romney victory.

By the way, although Sandra Fluke did not deserve being called a slut, she is hardly a role model for anyone, and I fail to see why the Democrats are treating her like a VIP and having her speak at their convention. Her claim to fame is that she wants us taxpayers to pay for her condoms? Bottom line, I do not care if you are a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, if you can not afford a $10 box on condoms, you can not afford to have sex and risk bringing a child into this world. If you are not capable of spending $10 for condoms, you are not capable of being a mother to a child.

If Sandra Fluke is the best the Democrats have to offer at their convention, than I think those Political Science Professors in Colorado will be correct in their prediction(which has been correct every year since 1980) on Mr.Romney being elected President. Ms.Fluke better stock up on condoms now, because you and I and every other taxpayer will not be paying for them after the election.

Posted by Tom Cushing,
a resident of Alamo,
on Aug 23, 2012 at 3:01 pm

I guess you are determined to deflect this matter to Biden -- were you as worried for your ticket in 2008? As a former Delawarean of many years, I am a Lot more comfortable with ol' Joe than I'd have been with Ms. Sara.

I think the bigger current issue raised by the Akin kerfuffle is whether the Romney/Ryan approach to social issues will be embraced by the Great Middle. I think not, but as the zen master says: "We'll see."

As to prognosticators, I seem to recall an old adage that "as Maine goes, so goes the country." After McGovern's electoral disaster of 1972, that was amended to say: "As Maine goes, so goes ... Vermont."

You can always count on people like Tom to try and distract voters away from important issues. If he can just get enough people to talk about this Akin idiot and not talk about the poor economy, impending entitlement crisis, $1 trillion deficits, etc., his guy Obama can win!

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain Dorothy!

Thank God Democrats never say anything stupid.

And notice how Tom also likes to take jabs at people's appearance, like his comment that Paul Ryan resembles (Eddie?) Munster from the 1960's Munster's TV show? He thinks a quip like that relieves the need to discuss the issues. After all, what could a Munster possibly know, right?

Actually the Munster resemblance is pretty funny. I liked it the first time I heard it… A COUPLE WEEKS AGO in that Salon.com article.

Posted by anonymous danville girl,
a resident of Danville,
on Aug 23, 2012 at 4:04 pm

dear danville, i went to monte vista high school some years ago. when i was just barely 16 i got so drunk (as many of us did on a fairly regular basis) at a house party (at the house of possibly the wealthiest family from monte vista) that i passed out in a guest room (probably one of about 12 in the mansion). i have very vague memories of someone coming into the room at night. i woke up around 5 am, thirsty and sick and went down to the kitchen where my friend's boyfriend (whose parents owned the home, and who was already in college and home for the weekend) was in the kitchen. he told me not to tell anyone what had happened since his girlfriend would break up with him. i told him i didn't know what had happened. he told me he had had sex with me. i was shocked and horrified. a couple weeks later i missed my period and called this boy to tell him that he had gotten me pregnant and i needed to have an abortion. i was scared out of my mind. i didn't tell anyone. when i told him, this boy asked me how much it would cost. i remember that it was an odd number, something like 335 dollars, and he sent me a check, with no note, for exactly half of the cost, which happened to be some number and 50 cents. the rest of the money i got from what i had saved from my part time job. i clearly and indelibly remember that check for exactly half. he had raped me in my sleep, his family had more money than god and he couldn't even round up to the dollar. i didn't call it rape for years, blaming myself for being so drunk so as to pass out. it took years of self-hatred and denial to realize that this boy had raped me- he had had sex with me without my consent, explicit or otherwise. but i will carry the emotional burden of that experience through my life and it colors my relationships to this day. i happen to know that he is married with children and it pains me to think that his disgusting actions had no recourse on his life the way it did mine. danville, this story is not unique to me. the money, the parties, the drinking, the callous and prince-like attitude of many of the young moneyed boys leads to this happening to young danville girls probably every day. and worse. rape and abortion are both much more common than anyone would like them to be. making girls feel guilty for being raped by classifying such abhorrent behavior as legitimate is the problem. was i raped? should a jury decide? should i have been made to justify my rape as such in order to have an abortion? these are real issues for real people and politicians like akin have never been a scared girl raped and in need of an abortion. danville, please teach your sons to never do such a thing. talk about rape and sex and drinking openly and honestly with your children. sex without consent is rape.

Posted by Media checker,
a resident of San Ramon,
on Aug 24, 2012 at 11:33 am

Right spc, the big O pulling the media strings to distract, and keep Americans from focusing or even discussing jobs, economy, debt, and deficits. ..just keep it irrelevant, misleading, and distracting. Like Obama said, 'if I don't get the unemployment situation fixed in 3 years, I'll be a one term president' Well... time's up, he failed !
The big mouths are on 24/7. Slobbering Debbie and Stephanie continue to blabber, and spew lies for Obama. Actually, Dem party Chair and Congresswoman, Debbie W, was called out for her lies yesterday by Anderson Cooper, CNN. She rewrote, changing meaning, an LA Times article, then sent out to Democrats. She got hammered.
Obama wanted to prevent 2 Republicans from speaking at the convention when he learned they were on the schedule. So the Media guard fixed it. Now need for Obama's 4 day 'rubber stamp' convention, when most Dem Congressmen aren't attending, because they'd rather not be seen there, and rather be home campaigning to save their seats. SO,Obama cutting it to a 3 day convention, thus cutting 4 hours of media coverage. Repubs are keeping orig 4 day schedule...but with 4 hours of speeches cut from them. So many speeches had to be cut from Repubs. CUT charming Ann Romney, and Artur Davis speech has been blacked out by media!
Who is Artur Davis? You would recognize this fine fellow. He was a National Co-chair on Obama's '08 campaign. He is a black, Harvard Lawyer, former Dem Congressman from Alabama, voting against Obamacare, who is NOW a REPUBLICAN in VA, and a ROMNEY SUPPORTER !! He will still be speaking at the convention, but media cut from the media coverage allotment. scandalous. Can you imagine Obama feeling so treatened, that he wants to silence Repubs a much as possible...to go to such lengths, to cut his own convention, but they weren't getting the numbers attending that they wanted anyway.

I don't see why the Republicans are so upset with this poor dumb schmuck Akin. He may be a little weak on female physiology, but intellectually and ideologically he fits right in with the Christian Taliban that has taken over the GOP.

Let's see; the majority of the national debt was run up under Reagan, Bush and Bush in times of relative economic prosperity due to tax cuta which lowered government revenue to the lowest level relative to GDP in the past 60 years, then due to an asset bubble fueled by Republican-promoted deregulation of the financial sector (and just about everything else) the economy of the nation and the world fell off a cliff into a pit from which most nations are still struggling to extricate themselves, and which our government's ability to stabilize our economy was handicapped by that mountain of pre-2009 debt. So, according to the right wing blog echos who repeat everything they hear and never bother to look at source data - it's all Obama's fault!

anonymous danville girl, I'm sorry to hear your story. Self-righteous, pompous idiots like Congressman Akin are able to live with themselves only by lying about the very real things that happen in the world. Of course - it's not an issue he ever had to face himself, is it?

"Huh": Did you have amnesia during the Carter presidency when interest rates were close to 20%, gas lines were blocks long, unemployment was at record highs, he destroyed the economy and our confidence to an all time low?

President Reagan brought interest rates down, employment went up, gas prices dropped, and he created well paying jobs in the private sector, including in the south bay where Lockheed and other employers prospered. Iran laughed at President Carter and laughed at our hostages. President Reagan's restored confidence in our great nation, restored pride in our military, and he brought down the wall of communism.

Does any of that sound familiar?

Stop getting your news from George Clooney and his fellow uneducated and misguided hollywood liberal friends.

Fact is President Reagan will go down in history as one of the best President's of all times, and polls of Americans reflect his popularity, that crosses over political parties.

RJW, Reagan benefited from infighting in OPEC which led to cheap oil. He didn't make it happen, he was just in office at the time. He did juice the economy with deficit spending - which is OK if its needed but should be discontinued when the economy stabilizes - which he and his Veep, Bush I, didn't bother to do, quadrupling the debt in 12 years. (Do you remember the quote "Deficits don't matter"? That's what Dick Chaney noted that Reagan "proved.") And Reagan had about as much to do with "bringing the wall of communism down" as a rooster has with causing the sun to rise.

Reagan wasn't a terrible president, but most of the good stuff that happened during his administration was simply events that had nothing to do with him or our government. What I find amusing is that his worshipers fail to recognize the huge contribution he made to our national debt. We're still paying for the temporary economic boost he "bought" in the 1980's in the form of a debt hangover that has hobbled current efforts to shake off a legitimate economic crisis.

"Starve the beast"* worked, and we're paying the price.

And I don't pay any attention to celebrities, talk radio hosts, or propaganda outlets like Fox News. There are original sources of data which can be accessed by you and me which don't need to be massaged into the kind of fairy tale you've been fed, and naively believe.

Huh: No comment from you about President Carter? That says it all. Polls confirm Americans consider President Reagan one of the best Presidents of all time. Face the facts, President Reagan did a fantastic job. May god bless him and all he did for our great country.

Polls confirm that Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton are the most admired living Americans. Web Link
You ready to concede the election, RJW?

Reagan had great PR, I'll grant you that. He played the role of President with elan. But America's prosperity during his administration had nothing more to do with his leadership than WWII was won because of his heroism at the helm of a submarine. The actual foreign policy initiatives undertaken during under his watch - arming the Taliban and funding the madrassas in Afghanistan which have trained terrorists for the past 30 years, the Iran-Contra scandal, etc., haven't played out so well in hindsight.

The mantle of "Father of America's national debt", however, is all his.

It is true that Reagan was clever (or senile) enough to avoid being convicted for his role in authorizing the Iran-Contra debacle (the illegal sale of arms to Iran, and the illegal funding of the terrorist Contras). A hefty bit of shredding of key documents by Fawn Hall (on behalf of Oliver North) also destroyed evidence about Reagan's role. Maybe that episode is the Reagan "greatness" referred to above.

Regarding the Romney/Ryan ticket, it will be interesting to see whether voters believe the hype about Ryan being a "deficit hawk," when he has voted for all the spending and tax-cutting bills that created the enormous deficit, and has proposed a budget plan that would not eliminate the deficit until 2030, if at all.

Posted by Tom Cushing,
a resident of Alamo,
on Aug 26, 2012 at 8:31 pm

RJW: I understand your pining for Mr. Reagan -- things were very different during his era. So much so, that many commentators have said it's doubtful that he could command the GOP nomination this time -- insufficiently religious, union background, too socially liberal, and most of all: he was a closet Keynesian!

All those jobs you indicate he created (like the Lockheed ones you mention) were the result of Deficit Spending for an unprecedented peacetime Defense build-up. He inherited a relatively mild recession, with no hugely expensive foreign warS to resolve.

So what did he do? He created a massive Stimulus that was acceptable to the GOP because it was for the Pentagon. It worked. Tax rates that were significantly higher then were also cut, across the board. That also increased demand, especially from the middle class. That worked, too. Good for him -- he'd have made a great Democrat!

You may say that the Defense build-up helped to end the Cold War and there's truth in that, too -- which is proof-positive that there are overriding issues Even more important than the current deficit, which is a big problem, but not a crisis -- the sky is simply not falling, and the US is not Greece by any stretch of anyone's fevered imagination.

Now, what would Romney/Ryan do? Give tax cuts from current lower rates, including huge amounts the wealthiest among us -- who haven't created US jobs with them yet, in ten years -- and won't now. Why? Because 1 -- they won't spend it, and 2 -- they will invest it where they will get the best returns -- and where's that? Not here, but elsewhere, like in the emerging markets of Asia. Do you really want to create more jobs in India and Taiwan?

The Romney/Ryan plan would also cut funding to disfavored programs -- calling it fiscal responsibility. But if fiscal responsibility was the goal, they'd not starve the fisc with tax cuts. It's a huge lie. And those austerity measures will further exacerbate the tepid demand in the economy -- making the recession worse. Some plan!

RJ -- you and I lived through the Regan era -- when you really think about it, this current crop of pretenders to the Office are no Reagans. Not.even.close.

Oh, and spc? It's ironic that your comments routinely try to make me the Issue, and then attack my posts for being too personal. In fact if you check, you may see that I did go after Mr. Ryan's identical position to Mr. Akin's on abortion. And the official GOP Platform is similarly retrograde. Scary bad. As to the Munster quip -- suffice it to say I don't read salon.com, but I'm glad you were entertained.

I understand why you want to change the subject, but your badly over-inflated, miscast numbers are simply not the only issue people care about in the campaign.

Posted by Tom Cushing,
a resident of Alamo,
on Aug 26, 2012 at 9:19 pm

Dear anonymous danville girl: as a father of two daughters, I read your comment with a sense of heart-wrenching empathy, and I wanted to address you separately. I am terribly sorry that happened to you. I hope you are able to get the assistance that may help you sort-out that incident, learn its lessons and move ahead with your life and loves. That young man robbed you of a part of your past -- I hope you are able to keep him from robbing your future, too.

Your comment is a reminder to us all that these public policy discussions have real-live fundamental impacts on real-live, breathing, hurting people. I think that's important to keep in mind.

Tom: I consider President Reagan to be the most beloved and respected President of my lifetime. I was blessed to hear President Reagan speak in person, and he was amazing! Our country really needed someone who inspired confidence and faith and pride, after the Carter administration disasters, and he was the right person at the right time. Even those who disagreed with President Reagan's policies, whether it was Tip O'Neil, or Senator Ted Kennedy, would always have to admit they admired and respected him as a person, who was always polite, respectful, and could disagree without being disagreeable.

Trust me, I have no expectations of Governor Romney ever being in the same category as President Reagan, but I do honestly believe that Governor Romney would be a much better alternative than 4 more years of President Obama and Joe Biden.

I think most people, if honest, would have to agree that fixing the economy is the number one priority of the next President. President Obama has had 4 years, and the economy numbers seem to be getting worse each month, certainly not improving. I know that Democratic activist, such as yourself, like to talk about issues like gay marriage, abortion, and that idiot Todd Akin's crazy views, to deflect conversations about the economy.

Governor Romney has a very impressive track record in the business world, particularly as a financial consultant, and even his detractors acknowledge his business smarts and business savy. If you look at what he did for Staples Office Supply, and Dominoes Pizza, he could do the same for our national economy.

I also really like Governor Romney's statements about a long standing problem with our economy is people who are not motivated and not competitive, seeking and working in government jobs, and not being efficient and productive. His comments that our government workers need to view their job as being in competition with other countries government workers productivity and efficiency is a great way to analyze the issue.

At the end of the day, I truly believe that our economy will be much better off with Governor Romney running the country like a business, rather than President Obama treating our economy like it is the DMV in Cook County, Illinois.

"Dave": President Reagan was elected governor in California, and twice elected President of the United States. Sounds like the "dunce" out smarted you and your ivory tower, so-called "educated" friends. He was also "smart enough" to get his economic and foreign policy goals achieved, and "smart enough" to play the role of simple cowboy so that people like you would underestimate him. Sounds pretty smart to me.

Voting for Obama in 2012 would be like boarding the Titanic so that you could ram the iceberg a second time. He's had 4 years. He owns the problems and they are trending worse. It's time for new solutions. We can't be sidetracked by issues secondary to the economy and jobs.

"President Obama has had 4 years, and the economy numbers seem to be getting worse each month, certainly not improving."

Seriously? Were you comatose in 2008? If so, that screen you look at while you pen your loving paeans to Ronald Reagan can be used for other things - like going back and looking at how the economy actually was when Obama took office. Try Google instead of just going where you're force-fed right wing propaganda like a foie gras goose - you might actually learn something.

2008: Major corporations failing, the stock market tanking, real estate values plummeting, 2.5 million jobs lost in one year. That's the economy Obama saw when he was inaugurated - a national and global economy in free fall, on the verge of deteriorating into conditions not seen in this country since the great Depression of the 1930's.

And that meltdown was caused by the very same economic policies trumpeted by the Republicans today - deregulation of industries, allowing corporations to do just about anything they wanted to do, skimming off the profits and walking away from the consequences.

We've made a lot of progress since 2008. Not as much as we could have made if Republicans in Congress hadn't made trying to make Obama lose the upcoming election take precedence over doing what needed to be done to help the country - as they've openly trumpeted their priorities have been. Almost 4 million jobs have been added by private industry in the past 2 1/2 years alone. The stock market is close to all time highs. Even the real estate market is slowly getting up off the mat.

Nice try----Akin does not represent anyone's thoughts but his own. Interesting no one got upset when libs call for the death of conservatives---not a peep about big Obama donor Maher trashing women. Remember the Demo lovefest at KKK Byrd's funeral?
Biden is a fool. Other than stealing $316 BILLION from Medicare and setting up anonymous panels to deny seniors' healthcare---Obama is a failure. Obviously in over his head. Would love to see another viewpoint in the Express. We are not all Obama brown shirts.

Stephanie, your pompous, self-congratulatory cluelessness would be funny if it wasn't so grossly offensive and deluded. You wouldn't know a "moral compass" if it was slipped into your daily cup of bile.

I'm not surprised that you're another right wing blog echo, since you apparently consider Limbaugh's extraordinarily unfunny expression of utterly unwarranted self-righteousness to be "witty."

First, Akin's screw up was just that, HIS screw up! Aside from his uneducated statement, we women do need to have some type of moral compass. I do know of someone when I was in college who said she was raped only because she was embarrassed about what she did, ruined the guy's life, and then admitted she was lying after all the fallout.

With regard to Romney and Obama, Obama needs to go before we end up like the bankrupt countries in Europe. Linda is correct in stating he is way over his head running our country. He is full of hot air and that is it! If he gets put in for another 4 years, the US will no longer be the greatest nation on the planet. And Tom, before you start mouthing off, go listen to Paul Ryan's VP speech, check those facts and then feel free to argue...

Posted by Tom Cushing,
a resident of Alamo,
on Aug 30, 2012 at 2:17 pm

From our Department of Mouthing-off:

1 -- GOPers who are seeking to disavow Mr. Akin as an "idiot" need to "wear" the fact that he IS, in fact, the Republican Party's candidate for the US Senate. He won the Primary and he's all yours -- That's what your Party has become. As a former Republican, I'd like to suggest a bit of soul-searching on your parts -- or a major post-election effort to reclaim the soul of your outfit.

2 -- to Cathy: I think I'll let Fox News carry that water, in terms of the novella that was Ryan's speech. I Will Say that when you've offended Fox News' instinct for perverting facts, your right-wing candidacy is in trouble...

The gas lines you refer to under the Carter admin actually were from the Iran Oil Embargo. I waited in these gas lines many times. This occurred during the Nixon/Ford administration. Get your facts correct or you will lose all credibility. How old are you? You must be the one with amnesia, not "Huh". Sounds like your spoon fed from Fox news, "fair and balanced", yeah right.

Where are the Bush supply side jobs created by the 2003 tax cuts? He did not create any jobs except real estate related (mortgage brokers, realtors, appraisers and construction, etc,). Subtract those jobs and Bush had huge negative job record. The "trickle down" is very slow "drip, drip drip" just like water boarding, ah that was a Freudian slip, I meant water torture.

Romney can cut tax rates all he wants but with the global economy, corporations will continue to outsource jobs to other countries. The goal of corporations is to maximize shareholders wealth, not help unemployed American workers. If they do create jobs very few will have the health benefits necessary to survive without going bankrupt.

Here is a simple math question on the deficit. Cut taxes significantly + boost defense spending = much larger deficit. Cut domestic progams + government workers (even though I believe they are overpaid with too large of benefits) = much higher unemployment. I just hope Romney's trickle down creates millions of jobs, and fast, or we are going to be worse off. The trickle down will be slow, if it works at all (very doubtful) meanwhile the deficit will be increasing due to tax cuts, increased defense spending (probably a few more wars, whoopee) and higher unemployment. If Romney is elected, the stock market will get a bump for a few months until reality sets in. The middle class will get hammered by these policies.

The GOP position on condoms and abortions is such an oxymoron. Who will pay for unwanted babies from poor mothers? I do not believe the GOP will volunteer. Maybe Paul Ryan will adopt all these kids?

However likeable or amiable Reagan was in person, no one can dispute two facts: (1) Reagan pushed for and oversaw a massive increase in the federal deficit; and (2) every budget passed by Congress during the Reagan years had a smaller deficit than the budgets that Reagan proposed in each each of those years. So, perhaps he wasn't too bright on economics. Perhaps his farewell message, on leaving office, should have been, "Don't forget, you're all in my debt."

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